The Texas Legislature is the chief policymaking branch of state government that the Texas Constitution (Article III, Section 1) vests with all legislative power in the state. It is a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Texas Senate, and a lower chamber, the Texas House. The 181 members are elected from districts throughout Texas.

God and Country, a new Texas-based organization, will hold a rally Saturday at a Tyler church to “draw a line in the sand and aggressively and publicly defend those certain unalienable rights endowed by our creator.”

The Humane Society of the United States is working with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, Carolina Tiger Rescue, Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation and Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary to rescue 11 exotic animals from the Collins Zoo.

Texas is one of 13 states that allow people to own exotic animals as pets — as long as they're registered with local animal control. Many states are moving toward banning owning exotic animals, but some animal owners believe they have the knowledge and resources to raise exotic animals and will fight to keep them.

Rick Perry is still the Republican governor of a strongly Republican state. He controls the executive branch, maintains strong ties with business, has relatively weak opponents, and has run circles around the media.

When the Legislature decamped from Austin in July, there was a sense of order in Texas politics. And yet, as Rick Perry returns a mere seven months later, conditions on the ground in Texas border on the chaotic.

Lame duck or not, Rick Perry is still the Republican governor of a strongly Republican state. He exercises substantial influence over the levers of government and runs circles around the news media. Plus, there still mostly exists a vacuum in the space that should be occupied by a meaningful political opposition.

The underlying fundamentals that buttressed Gov. Rick Perry's political power in the state are not much changed, and they suggest that he will reassert his powerful presence in Texas politics now that he is back. His relationship with voters may be in a rut, but when it comes to the legislators, business interests and interest groups who practice politics every day, he still holds sway.

Gov. Rick Perry must now get back to work in Texas. But after a poor performance on the national stage, what's in store for Perry as he re-engages in state politics? Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.

In this week's nonscientific survey of political and government insiders, we asked what Gov. Rick Perry's re-entry into state politics will be like, and whether they think he'll remain in office or quit early.

Now what? This week, we asked the insiders what Gov. Rick Perry's reentry into state politics will be like (and, it should be noted, collected these answers before the governor dropped out of the presidential race on Thursday morning).

The conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation today wrapped up its annual legislative primer, which has become a must-attend for state Republican leaders. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on how the group is already working to influence next year's legislative session.

The president pro tempore of the Texas Senate on what it was like to be second in line to run the Lone Star State when Gov. Rick Perry was out on the campaign trail, his hopes for smooth sailing while he's at the helm and what he'd do if he were faced with an execution decision under his watch.

Texans will close out 2011 with more questions than answers: How will Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential bid play out? How will lawmakers’ multibillion-dollar budget cuts affect education, Medicaid and health care? Will the courts ever decide on new maps? Here’s hoping 2012 brings some resolution.

In the spirit of TribWeek and TribMonth, we present TribYear: 10 of our best stories of 2011 — from the budget-whacking legislative session to emergency room mistakes, education accountability and a Williamson County man exonerated after spending nearly 25 years wrongfully imprisoned for his wife's murder.

Rep. Scott Hochberg is good at a couple of the most important issues lawmakers will tackle in 2013: school finance and school curriculum. But he's bailing out of the Texas House after 20 years. The longtime lawmaker, though, plays down his role: “Holes in the Legislature are kind of like holes on the beach. They fill up pretty quickly.”

The Legislature's foremost expert on school finance and one of its top public education advocates, state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, confirmed this afternoon that he won't seek re-election next year.

The Garland Republican pleaded guilty in court Tuesday to felony abuse-of-office charges after illegally pocketing state travel money. The humbled legislator agreed to five years probation and said he was thankful that the issue was finally resolved.

Officials in Austin, Houston, El Paso and San Juan announced plans today intended to make employers aware of a key change in the law passed by the Legislature designed to elevate the importance of prosecuting wage theft.

Gov. Rick Perry proposed term limits for federal judges and cuts in pay and work hours for Congress, so we put those issues to the insiders and added Texas versions: What about a full-time Legislature, and appointed judges instead of elected ones?

Gov. Rick Perry is proposing to bring a little Texas to Washington — with a “part-time citizen Congress” that doesn’t meet so often, and whose members earn only half of what they make now. The Republican presidential hopeful will also call for an end to lifetime appointments for federal judges, including members of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Despite an increase in state spending on mental health care, Texas still ranks last in per capita funding for people with mental illness, according to a report issued by the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI).

Amid the most intense drought in state history, Texas voters split on a pair of water-related constitutional amendments that had the backing of many environmentalists and businesses. Analysts are scrambling to explain their differing fates.